Remembering Naguib el-Rehani on his death anniversary

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Mon, 08 Jun 2020 - 04:23 GMT

BY

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 - 04:23 GMT

Rehani - ET

Rehani - ET

CAIRO - 8 June 2020: June 8 marks the death anniversary of the legendary actor Naguib el-Rehani who left behind a great legacy of movies and plays.

On that occasion, Rehani’s only daughter Gina revealed to the press that she is trying to collect the artistic heritage of her father and all his personal papers, including his personal notes and belongings, to place them in a museum that bears his name.

Rehani was originally married to famed artist Badia Masabni, but they split up before he married Lucy, Gina's mother.

Rehani and Lucy married in an apartment in Heliopolis, then traveled to the French capital in 1937.

Lucy was a member of Rehani's troupe. She is originally from Germany and holds the French citizenship.

It is worth mentioning that Rehani performed more than 80 plays that are nowhere to be found.

Gina asked the Ministry of Culture, as well as the television and production companies to search for this lost heritage and show it to the public.

That is why she founded an association in Alexandria, holding celebrations and seminars to discuss and celebrate Rehani's artistic legacy.

Naguib el-Rehani was born in the neighborhood of Bab al-Sharia in Cairo at the Khedive era, to an Iraqi father called Elias Rehana, who used to work in horse trading.

Rehana settled in Cairo to marry an Egyptian Coptic woman, with whom he had three children, including Naguib.

Rehani was educated at Les Frères, a French school in Cairo. During his school years his early acting talent was evident so he joined the school acting team.

He was well known among his teachers for his ability to recite Arabic poetry, as he was a great fan of Al-Mutanabbi and Abul-A’la al-Maari.

Furthermore, Rehani was also very fond of French literature and theatrical works. After completing his studies, he worked as a simple employee for a sugar production company in Upper Egypt.

This experience had an impact on many of his plays and movies. He periodically travelled between Cairo and Upper Egypt.

In addition, Rehani and a friend of his age, Badie Khairi, established a theater group that worked to translate many French comic plays to the Arabic language.

The plays staged in various theaters in Egypt and across the Arab world, before some of the plays turned into movies with the beginning of cinematography in Egypt.




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